Paul Robert Forfia, MD

Paul Forfia, MD joins Emory Healthcare as the Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension, Right Heart Failure & Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension (CTEPH) program at Emory Heart and Vascular. 

Dr. Forfia is internationally recognized for his expertise in pulmonary hypertension/right heart function, the assessment of complex causes of shortness of breath and chronic blood clots in the lung.

Dr. Forfia’s early work centered around the use of echocardiography to evaluate the right heart and noninvasive differentiation of differing causes of pulmonary hypertension. His innovative research in these areas has helped thousands of patients and influenced the pulmonary hypertension academic and clinical community across generations. 

Dr. Forfia is an innovator in the application of exercise testing in combination with heart catheterization to uncover subtle cases of pulmonary hypertension and complex causes of dyspnea. He is also widely recognized for his clinical and research expertise in chronic thromboembolic disease.

Prior to his arrival at Emory, Dr. Forfia founded and was integral to building one of the premier CTEPH programs in the country.  

He earned both his Master’s in Physiology and MD from New York Medical College, followed by residency in internal medicine and dual fellowships in cardiovascular disease and advanced heart failure/transplantation at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Dr. Forfia’s extensive education and training in cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary physiology forms the basis for his clinical and research expertise. He is widely published, with more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and serves on editorial boards and as a reviewer for several high-impact journals. A frequent invited speaker at national and international scientific meetings, Dr. Forfia has contributed significantly to educational and consensus efforts in the pulmonary hypertension community. His collaborative work has helped shape many diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for pulmonary hypertension, right heart function assessment and CTEPH.